A blog about my life, knitting, and other stuff.

July 26, 2009

Wednesday: Due to air travel nightmares I've missed the opening night dinner for two years straight. This year I wised up an traveled a day early. Kim generously offered to pick me up at the airport and put me up for the night. It was fun to meet her family after hearing so much about them.

Thursday: We had a leisurely morning then drove to Marshfield in the afternoon. We checked into our room then had a few hours to kill before the welcome dinner. We realized we hadn't eaten any lunch so we decided to go to the microbrewery next door and get our favorite food--fried pickles with mustard sauce. Do not wrinkle your nose at a fried pickle. They are truly a delicious, decadent treat. We may have also eaten an enormous plate of nachos. Then, with very full stomachs, we trundled back to the hotel.

Coming into the dining room is a true summer camp moment. You start to scan the tables looking for friendly faces, trying to find a seat. We were to full to eat the dinner but I had to get a shot of the NEON sherbet that was for dessert. Bright!

After dinner we were let into the classroom, complete with yarn shop. We picked out our seats, looked around, sat and knit. Kim and I were roommates for the first time this year. We're both nightowls and were the very last ones to leave the classroom every night.

Here are a few brief video tours of all the knitting in the classroom.

Friday: Class with Meg began. Camp 2 has no set agenda. We submit questions or ask them on the fly. The conversation ranges from cast ons to twisted stitches to steeks to pockets to colorwork to just about anything. We break for lunch then do Show & Tell. I brought my Pi shawl since it's an EZ project knit in yarn bought at camp last year. I thought of it as kind of a nothing project but the campers all really liked it which was very gratifying. I think I helped sell a lot of Fairy Hare on market day.I also brought my Granny Smith cardigan. Then Kim yelled out to me to show off my Ravelympic sweater. (I was a bit flustered and confused at this point. I was wearing my Ravelympic sweater when I got up to do Show & Tell then changed into the Granny Smith so when she said to talk about the Ravelympic one I started talking about it as if I was wearing it. Everyone found this *very* funny. Especially Kim, who declared it her favorite moment from camp.)

Here's the Ravelympic sweater next to the inspiration sweater by EZ.

Meg and Amy Detjen demonstrated "four-handed knitting" in which two people work on alternating rounds of knitting simultaneously.

Saturday: More class, more Show & Tell then Market. Kimmet Croft was there and I got to show my shawl off to Jan Becker, the owner. Jennie the Potter was not only at the market, she was a camper. I sat across the table from her and got to know her a bit during camp. I love her work but decided that I would save any heavy pottery purchases for the Sock Summit marketplace, where she will be a vendor. But I couldn't resist getting one of her pendant necklaces. I also got some more Fairy Hare but don't have a photo yet.

Vicki came to visit Ann at camp so we all got to have dinner together. She was my swap partner about a million years ago and I've read her blog ever since. It was so nice to meet her in person. And Ann. I felt like I'd known her forever. We have the same sense of humor and both curse like sailors. Spending time with her was like a little visit home to New York.

Sunday: More class, more Show & Tell. Kim and I kept getting into trouble for giggling during class. We seem to reach a point at camp where we are just giddy schoolgirls looking for any excuse to burst out laughing. There were several points when we literally fell on the floor laughing. One moment was when I came out of the bathroom and reported that, on looking at myself in the mirror, thought, "Wow, how did I get that huge whisker?" I leaned in for a closer look and realized that it was just yarn stuck to my face.

Monday: We had a goodbye breakfast. I had a late flight so we took our time and were some of the last people to leave. We headed back to Wausau, visited with Kim's kids a bit and went out to lunch. I got the most insane burger in the world.

That's fried onions and fried cheese curds on that burger. Delicious.

And then I got dropped off at the airport and went home to my real life. Sigh. I miss camp. Luckily I'll get to see several campers and Meg and Amy Detjen in two weeks at the Sock Summit. I can't wait.